Spirited Arts
A Child's Perspective
Spirited Arts are a series of children’s pictures depicting their view of the Spirit in an artistic way. The pictures are available for free loan for periods of up to eight weeks.
For ease of administration and safety in transit, it is usual for exhibitors to collect and return the exhibits to Westhill Lodge in Birmingham. They are easily transportable by car. To see the approximate frame sizes of the pictures, please click below.
The Story Behind Spirited Arts
The Children Speak For Themselves
RE Today received a grant from Westhill to run a national competition in schools and more of the background is available from the Art in Heaven web gallery www.pcfre.org.uk/spiritedarts. When the competition was over, Westhill took a selection of pictures from different age ranges and cultural settings and framed them so that they could be made widely available as a long term resource.
There is of course no one individual artist, just children being creative. The words from RE Today’s introduction to Spirited Arts, Exploring and Expressing through art in Primary RE and in Secondary RE sets the scene:
‘Images touch our feelings and making things helps us to express our inner experiences. The image educates emotion where reason never reaches. The significant image held, recalled has the power to transform.’ Dorothea Blum (1963), Quaker
‘Many people of faith regard human beings as both created and creative. Humankind’s capacity for appreciating beauty, shape, colour and form leads many people to wonder about the nature of the creative power behind the universe and also to want to create things. This link to transcendent experience, and to the transforming power of creativity, makes art and RE true partners in the human search for meaning and understanding.’ Rachel Barker, Editor, RE Today
Thereafter we prefer to let the children speak for themselves.
Spirited Art: Young Artists Comments
What the Children Say About Their Art
“Creation: Nothing to
Everything”
Imagine the scene: Nothing! What does this mean? The truth is, it is
completely ‘unimaginable’ and this is probably the
reason why people find the creation story so difficult to comprehend.
When we made our poster we thought that it was important to focus upon
this concept. In the case of Humanists, they find it hard to believe
that one higher being created everything, especially within seven days
and with nothing. However, Christians can find hope and comfort in the
power that God has. This is also reflected on our poster as we have
shown that this higher being can create such contrasts in all living
things. From the tiny ladybird to the majestic lion to the infinite sky
and so on.
There is no doubt that for Christians, Humanists and any other religious groups you could mention this was one of the most dramatic points in their world and creates the basis for their belief. This turning point in their society has enabled these people to live and this forms the foundations for the world we know today. Despite differences in the creation story within religions, the main focus is the fact that their higher being, be it God, Allah or a mixture of unexplainable sciences, created something, out of nothing!
“The Cure of the Blind Man”
We have chosen “The Cure of the Blind Man” as the
focal point for our poster. We have incorporated sight and touch into
our design to reflect the way Jesus heals
people by touching them. The
blind man, unable to see, used his sense of touch to
“see” his surroundings. Sight has been portrayed in
the aspect of the modern photographic images. They show how the world
is very dependent on sight nowadays. They also reflect all the images
that the blind man sees when he is healed. So the turning point is a
new revolution of the man’s life. He has now reached a world
that he can now be included in, rather than pushed away from. He is not
an outsider any more. Jesus has restored the sight of people. The man
is no longer invisible.
“A Spiritual Moment –
Reaching Nirvana”
In my picture, I have tried to capture a person reaching Nirvana (from
the Buddhist religion) by using some spiritual symbols used in the
religion. The main focus of the picture is the pink lotus flower, which
is in bloom. The lotus flower has many meanings in the Buddhist
religion. The opened lotus flower symbolises a person who has been
enlightened. Buddha is sometimes seen sitting on a lotus flower. In my
picture, I have drawn a picture of a human, sitting within the lotus
flower, which signifies the person having attained enlightenment.
The person’s head is outlined with a dark colour, which represents any impurities (such as worries, negative feelings and illnesses) in his/her mind. As the being grows nearer to the state of Nirvana, the dark outline grows thinner, which shows the person’s mind being liberated from these impurities. When one finally reaches Nirvana, one’s mind is free from any worries and all suffering is eliminated from life. I illustrate the individual’s mind in a state of Nirvana by colouring it white; white represents cleanliness (your mind is cleansed from all suffering and distresses when you achieve Nirvana) and is untainted by the stresses and strains of life.
The silhouettes of the human’s head symbolises the individual’s mind, progressively attaining Nirvana. The word ‘Nirvana’ literally means ‘blowing out the flames’. I have drawn the silhouettes as though they are being blown away – symbolising the extinguishing of the three fires of desire – greed, hatred and ignorance.
I have drawn music notes encompassing the enlightened being, which symbolises the mind being in harmony when in Nirvana. (In music certain notes played together simultaneously produce a harmonious sound.)
I chose to colour the background blue to indicate the water in which the lotus flowers grows. The shading starts off dark blue; shaded in a criss-cross pattern to represent the turmoil, chaos and suffering one’s mind experiences before entering Nirvana. As you climb higher up the page, the shading becomes lighter and smoother, which symbolises the tranquillity, perfection and ecstasy one attains in Nirvana.
“Art in Heaven”
In my “Art in Heaven” poster, I have used all six
main religious symbols. I’ve used the Hinduism symbol, which
means ‘ Om’, which is a sacred symbo
l to Hindus.
The Buddhism symbol which is the wheel of the law. The Sikhism symbol
which means the power and unity of God to Sikhs. Then the Judaism
symbol, which means ‘King David, hero of faith’.
Then the Christianity symbol, which symbolises the death and
resurrection of Jesus and finally, the Islamic symbol, which symbolises
God guiding them. I have also included four smaller religious symbols.
In my picture, I have all of the symbols around the page
coming together, uniting towards the arched door, towards the light.
The main place they are all aiming for; but with no religion more
important than the other, all equal with each other and working
together.
“The Lost Sheep”
I knew this story very well from my Literacy and RE lessons. 
My picture
shows that this is the turning point when the shepherd brings his lost
sheep back to the flock. We had been talking about the custom of
well-dressings that are a tradition in the Derbyshire and Staffordshire
area. I decided to make a collage to represent a well-dressing and used
torn pieces of paper instead of flower petals.
“My Spirit”(2)
Through this poster I tried to portray that sometimes day to day life
can hide the true person
within. We can seem withdrawn
and are often
shy to express our feelings, because we get wrapped up in work and this
causes stress and often unhappiness. Therefore, in this poster,
I’ve depicted the greyness of the exterior of the person
coming to life and revealing the colourful, dramatic, powerful soul and
spirit within. Remember:- never judge a book by its cover; always look
within for its true meaning. Someone’s spirit is special, but
is even more special if it is shown and shared.
“My Soul”(1)
This piece shows my soul. I have drawn my soul using colour and shape.
The
different shapes represent different aspects of my personality. The
plants signify my youth because they are small and have no flowers
because they haven’t reached oldness yet and have buds.
“My Soul”(2)
My soul painting depicts a hand, stopping aspects of my personality
getting through, which is how I feel sometimes. Sometimes it feels like
I have to stop saying some of the things I do and that I have to hold
back what I really think or feel about certain things. So, in a way,
the hand represents public opinion or morals.
The darkness on the right is to show that the aspects of my personality on that side aren’t shown often. The ones on the left are the ones I show often and are in the light. There is a space in the top right hand corner where the personalities mix so its shows that sometimes you cannot hold back emotions.
“Art in Heaven (Religions)”
“Religions”: I wanted to make the symbols the most
important thing in the picture, so I only used coloured ink on them and
pencil crayon on everything else. The biggest images in the picture are
the symbols again and then I put the sketches of the printed words
smaller, behind and I used the Hebrew language and Chinese characters
to fill in any remaining gaps. I have tried to leave my design
uncomplicated, but busy enough, that you have to look carefully at the
picture to be able to see everything.
“Art in Heaven” : My design is based on
the six main religions as subjects (Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism,
Christianity, Hinduism). I tried to emphasis that all religions are the
same but different by moulding all the symbols into one (shown in the
very middle). This was a meaning of equality but also representing
differences.
Right from the start I had decided to make my piece of work a design that you had to look into hard to see things – just like religions. You have to look deep into a religion to find the true meaning of it. I think I have achieved this look by scattering related pictures around the six sections to create a collage effect. I used the names of the religions over the religious symbols to represent individuality as well as boldness. I used a Sun at the side of my design; as a light that everyone is aiming for – our goals in life (I used warm colours for this).
“Peace”,
“Sunset” and “Waterfalls”
“Peace”: Photograph of a Class (spelling
‘Peace’) “Sunset”: I love the
sunset at the end of the day. I feel very peaceful and know God is
there. “Waterfalls” : I love waterfalls. They are
peaceful places to me. I like the water in the sunlight when it shines
like a rainbow and like snow.
“My
Spirit”(3) and
“My Spirit”(4)
“My Spirit”(3): This is what I think my
spirit
looks like.
I picked
greens, purples and blues because I am
very calm.
I put scribbles on
my picture of my spirit because I am untidy. I
don’t get angry easily so I didn’t choose reds or
oranges.
“My
Spirit” (4): This is what I think my
spirit looks like.
I
chose reds, oranges and yellows because I get
angry very easily. I chose my shapes because I am always running about
and I am always nuts at home. This is my spirit.
“Inner Vision of Life on
Earth”
My artwork is supposed to show that in life, there are good things that
will happen and bad things that will happen. The question of
“for every two smiles there is one tear … or is it
for every smile there are two tears?” is meant to make people
wonder and think whether in life there are more happy moments than sad,
or more sad moments than happy. Whether or not more good things happen
or bad thin
gs, or more high
points than low. The photographs of a new
baby, a honeymoon couple, a coffin symbolising death and a birthday
cake are supposed to demonstrate the concept of good and bad things
happening in life.
The religious symbols are meant to show the different options that the person’s mind is considering, below the option of material things, as most of us tend to put religion on the bottom of our lives compared with material things. This is meant to show the confusion of whether or not these things are morally right and the confusion of those things, such as mansions and expensive cars mean anything unless there is some sort of “out of world” connection with superior, or personal beliefs. The two pieces of tissue paper on the rainbow at the top is the meeting of two souls, or spirits.
To make it, I used pencils to draw most of the main features
and then oil pastels on some of the pictures. I used colouring pencils
for some and paint for most of the background. It is a spiritual piece
because I think it depicts the mind of an agnostic, with all the
confusion and uncertainty. Also because of it showing one opinion of
life on earth, one person’s thoughts.
“My Spirit” (1) –
(Teachers’ comments)
These two pictures of the coming of the Holy Spirit as flames of fire
at the Christian Pentecost show the first disciples of Jesus. The
energy of the flames, the overwhelming experience of God’s
power and the exuberance of the moment are captured by these two
(young) pupils.
Running a Spirited Art Exhibition
Timing, Support and Frame Sizes
To check the availability of the pictures and to have an initial discussion on receiving a Grant in Kind to run your own exhibition, workshop or local event, please email us here or contact us here.
We are always willing to discuss any aspect of a proposed exhibition. Generally exhibitors collect and return the frames by car from Westhill Lodge in Selly Oak in Birmingham. Where particularly long journeys are concerned we try to arrange a mid way changeover. Blankets laid between frames are an effective way of protecting the exhibits during the journey.
People have found these pictures a valuable resource both within a wider exhibition and as a basis for workshops or other events with younger participants. Sometimes Spirited Arts just find a quiet space to offer reflections on how the young see the world.